Blake Bortles to start vs. Bills

Despite having what looks to be a lack of trust in him, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be continuing the season with Blake Bortles behind center. Per head coach Doug Marrone, the team won’t be making a change behind center Week 12 as they’ll head to Buffalo to face his old team in the Bills.

#Jaguars coach Doug Marrone says QB Blake Bortles will not be benched for Sunday's game at Buffalo.

“We’re not going to do that [bench him],” Marrone told the media Monday. “You have to see if someone you put in there is going to be better. That comes during the week of practice. If someone can perform better during that week, we’ll be able to do that. You can’t just replace people just to replace them. You have to replace them with people who you feel are going to do a better job for you.”

Bortles will be coming off a performance in which he went 10-of-18 for 104 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, that lack of productivity alongside his comrades on offense led to a scoreless fourth quarter in which the Steelers came back and upset the Jags by a final score of 20-16.

Bortles will now look to bounce back Week 12 against a Bills team he defeated last postseason at EverBank Field. However, that may be easier said than done as their defense will come into Sunday’s game ranked second in yards allowed (302.2 ypg), first against the pass (202.4 ypg) and is the No. 10 ranked unit against the rush (99.8 ypg).

On the flip side, Bortles will have one good thing in his favor and that’s the struggles of the Bills’ offense. They’ll come into Sunday’s game last in points scored (13.7 ppg) and passing offense (159.8 ypg), and next to last in yards per game (268.6 ypg). That means Bortles likely won’t have to do much to win, which could lead to a low scoring game like their last meeting.

Email

Like this article?

Sign up for the Jaguars Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning

An error has occured

Please re-enter your email address.

Thanks for signing up!

You'll now receive the top Jaguars Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.